In recent years, bit-patterned media possessing a track in which a plurality of magnetic bits magnetically separated from each other are arranged periodically have been proposed. The bit patterned media possess an advantage in that noises originating from track boundaries or from recording transitions can be reduced, and another advantage is that thermal relaxation of the recorded magnetization can be suppressed.
However, in order to write data in bit-patterned media, one aspect of any magnetic head device or magnetic recording method is to ensure that the time period of a recording signal to be outputted to a magnetic head corresponds to the array period of magnetic bits.
Japanese Patent No. 2006-164349 discloses a method in which writing and reading of data is repeated by changing a phase of the time period of the recording signal gradually. Accordingly, a phase for which a bit error rate becomes minimal is determined. However, it is necessary for the conventional method discussed above to repeat a considerable number of times of writing and reading data before it accomplishes its goal.
Therefore, it is desirable to have a method of reading and writing bit-patterned media which does not involve many iterations of reading and writing steps, thereby saving time, energy, and efficiency of the mechanisms involved.